Just Another Tuesday
by J.Caesar
Summary: Every chapter will tell an ordinary day in the Spix's macaw colony as lived by a different Rio character. [Tiago, Blu, Bia &Family]
1. Tiago

_**Hi all, **_

_**Although having shut this story down after chapter three (and not that many reviews), I've decided to give it a rework. I'm curious to know how you find it now. If you haven't read it before, please enjoy!**_

_**KR,**_

_**J. Caesar**_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Tiago**

The sun peeked over the edge of the horizon and its first rays touched the Brazilian rainforest. It spurred the last of the nocturnal creatures to fly, crawl or skitter back to their homes. Additionally, the animals that profited from the damp morning were notified to begin their search for breakfast. Among these animals were the Blue Spix's Macaws. Although, not all of them fancied the early hours.

"Tiaaago!"

One ray in particular shone its light on a small face. In reply to this warm greeting, the little bird opened an eye, groaned and flapped a wing over his face. He tried to ignore his mother's voice coming from below, hoping that because his nest was on the top floor, he'd be forgotten. Sadly, he was wrong.

His mother's silhouette appeared in front of him, but that's all it was. His sleepy eyes provided him with a blurry sight as he yawned.

"Tiago?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just five more minutes. " He grumbled back.

"Nah-ah. I know the length of your minutes. Time to get up."

"But mom…"

"Your dad and I are going to fetch breakfast, if we're back, you'd better be awake." She spoke strictly.

"Yes mom."

His mother disappeared and he rubbed his eyes in the hope of brightening his vision. It worked, partially. With a theatrical amount of effort, he raised himself to his feet. He hopped over to the edge of his floor and looked down. Bia kissed her parents goodbye as she always did when they parted. Carla stood on the ground floor as well, yet not for the same reason. She was working hard to subdue the perked up feathers on her head. All of it was a scene too common and Tiago sighed tediously. These daily rituals bored him.

"Just another Tuesday." He said to himself.

He turned around and stared at his bed. In contrast to his sisters, he didn't really care about his haircut. He didn't really feel the need to tidy himself up for school. He didn't even like school. He contemplated about lying down in his bed again, but his mother's warning made him hesitant. It would take his parents at least 15 minutes before returning with breakfast, so would he take the risk? If he'd fall back asleep again, he'd be in trouble. His mother never made empty threats. He choose not to test fate. Instead, he scoured his room for any form of entertainment to fill up the time.

He caught sight of something on his window frame. A big slug crawled tacitly down the tree, passing his floor. The slug had been feeding off the leaves of the tree at night and was now descending to hide in the lower parts from his daylight enemies. Tiago drew a fiendish smirk and peeked down at this sister. Carla was too occupied to notice.

"Why not energize the boring morning with a little fun?" He spoke to himself.

He stretched out the window with his foot and grabbed a leaf. He pulled hard, yet it was tethered more firmly than he had estimated. He had to put in his full weight to get it off, with the expected outcome. The leaf suddenly snapped free and he tumbled backwards.

"Tiago, what are you doing?" Carla called.

"Nothing!" He replied.

He held the leaf in front of the slug. The gentle animal crawled on undisturbed. With bated breath, Tiago carried it on the leaf back inside. He peeped over the edge again. Carla was humming a song whilst walking up and down the bottom floor and still had no clue of her brother's intentions. Tiago waited for her to return to the birdbath in the centre. When his target was in position, he held out his tool of mischief and watched as the snail slowly crawled towards the edge. Once it discovered it was out of road, it attempted to turn around, yet before it could do so, Tiago shook the leaf firmly. The innocent mollusc went into freefall, coursing for the head of the blue chicklet below.

"Hey Carla, have you seen my-.."

Unexpectedly, the snail's flying trip came to a halt when Bia popped her head over the edge, intercepting it. The splatting sound it made on impact was enough to send Tiago on his back with laughter.

"Oh gosh… there is a slug, a slug on your head." Carla stammered.

"TIAGO!" Bia cried.

Tiago laughed even harder and did not stop until he noticed who was staring down on him. His father and mother, and they were far from happy. The former tapped the floor with his talon. Although the initial result of his joke had pleased him, the chick knew now that his stunt was going to get a tail.

"We're gone for how long…?" His father asked his mother.

"Ten minutes." She filled in.

"Ten minutes, Taigo. TEN MINUTES. You are absolutely unbelievable."

"But it's not my fault, the slug just…"

He stopped talking. It didn't matter what kind of excuse he would try to put up. Nobody would believe him. He had done far too much in the past to gain the benefit of the doubt in this situation. He had to try something different if he didn't want to sweep the entire nest again.

"Yes, I did it. I suppose you have to make me stay at home today, I deserve that." He said with played humility.

"Nice try, young man. You're just going to school." His mother replied with a grin.

"…and you know what you're going to do this afternoon." His father added.

"Oh man, not sweep the nest again…"

"You have yourself to thank for that."

Breakfast proceeded rather quietly. Tiago had expected to receive all kinds of snide remarks from his sisters, but instead he was given the silent treatment. This everlasting silence was eventually broken when Eduardo busted in. Not that he was given much time to say more than a simple hello, Tiago jumped him as soon as he spotted his grandfather. It almost made the old bird fall over.

"My, Tiago, you've grown. I can hardly lift you up."

"Pop-pop, why don't you come by as often as you used to."

Eduardo shook his head.

"Work, my boy. Loads of it."

"And when is that done?"

"I don't know. Soon I hope."

Tiago was placed back onto the ground.

"What brings you here, daddy?" His mother asked.

As Eduardo started to discuss matters with his parents, Tiago lost interest. He finished his breakfast quickly and rushed to enjoy the few minutes he had left by playing football in his room. The round piece of fruit he had chosen for this task however, was not up for this task. After kicking it against the wall a mere five times, it pulverized, leaving a smudge. He wanted to go outside and play football, yet he had to go sit in a classroom and afterwards he had to clean the nest. In his anger he gave his bedside a kick.

"Stupid school."

His father went along with Eduardo afterwards, leaving his mother to bring him and his sisters to school. As was accustomed, it was Carla who was the last to be ready. Jewel urged her to hurry, although this was as effective as extinguishing fire with a can of oil. After having dragged it out to the last moment, his older sister finally confirmed her readiness and they could go on their way. Their destination was the tree of education, the school of the colony, situated near the centre of their territory.

"And don't forget sweeties, dad and I aren't able to pick you up after school so you'll have to go back home together, okay?"

An idea shot through Tiago's mind.

"Don't worry, we promise." He said.

Their mother smiled proudly, gave them all a kiss and flew away. When she was out of hearing distance, Carla addressed Tiago.

"What are you up to?" She demanded distrustful.

"Nothing, why do you ask?"

Both his sisters looked at him with suspicion and he knew they would find out anyhow, thus decided to share his plan. He gestured them to come closer, but they weren't inclined to do more than lean forward.

"I'm gonna skip school today."

"What? Why?" Bia let out astonished.

"Why? Because it's boring, that's why."

"Can't argue with that." Carla posed. "But what if mom and dad find out?"

"They won't, because you won't tell them."

"Hey! Don't you call me a tattletale!" Carla snapped.

"But what about the teacher?" Bia argued, ignoring her worked up sibling. "Won't she report you if you don't show?"

Tiago rubbed his chin. He hadn't given any thought to that. Maybe if his sisters could cover him, he would be able to pull it off. The odds were not in his favour, especially since he pranked them this morning, but there was no harm in asking.

"Yeah, I don't suppose you guys could make something up…?" He asked vaguely.

"Ha! Forget it." Carla scoffed and she flew away.

Bia was now the only person left to help him out. He looked at her imploringly. She raised an eyebrow.

"Me? I'm a terrible liar. And don't forget that I'm still mad at you for 'slug'ing me this morning!"

Tiago's mental gears turned at full power, working out how to trick his sister into aiding him.

"Because, that was all just good fun. You're not boring, are you?"

A brief moment past by and Bia clearly hesitated.

"No!... At least I think not."

"I KNOW not. Because only really boring birds wouldn't want to help out their brother. And you want to help out your brother, don't you?"

She remained quiet and he put his wing around her shoulders as if they were best friends. Although they were a tight family, this point was still up for debate.

"Come on, you're my cool sister, remember?"

"I thought Carla was your cool sister." Bia answered with a suspicious look.

"No-no-no. You're the cool one, everyone knows that!"

He could see that his plan to impel her was taking effect. She wouldn't let him down after all the compliments he had given her. Especially being cool was something Bia strived for, hence Tiago knew that it would be a strong motivator.

"Alright, I'll help you out. But you must promise me not to do anything stupid or dangerous."

"Pff, you sound like…"

He realized that he couldn't criticise her now. If he did, maybe she'd change her mind and then his entire rouse was done for. Besides, this was a simple promise. When had he ever done anything reckless?

"You got my word."

He quickly left by soaring down at the back of the tree and knew exactly where he'd go first. Next to the football stadium, there was a small area reserved for practise. It was the site were the Blue Macaw team perfected their football skills before going into the field. However, this was at night. During the day, it would be abandoned. And Tiago was already looking forward to having the entire place to himself.

And indeed. His prediction had been correct: the entire place was deserted. Here, The goals stood only a metre above the ground, whereas the ones in the stadium stood much higher. This was only logical because of the much higher skill level of the players there.

Luckily for Tiago, the footballs were easily accessible. They lied motionless in a small trench, dug just outside the borders of the field. He greedily took one and started juggling the ball with his talons. He had practised kick-ups at home regularly, however the ball here was slightly bigger and heavier, giving him difficulties keeping it off the ground.

"Ah man, why can't I get this right."

He also tried shooting at the goal, which too was a lot harder with the official ball. After toying around for a while, he took a necessary break and sat down for a moment. Even an active youngster like himself needed a short rest sometimes and the heavier ball and unlimited boundaries had left him exhausted. While he leaned against the base of the goal, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the patch of shade that he had found here. He was having a good time that was true, but in his mind it had been way more fun than this. Maybe it's because there is no-one to see him or cheer for him as his dad mostly did. Then he thought about Bia. Would she keep her promise? He had no doubt about that, but then something struck him. She was a terrible liar. So what would happen if the teacher found it she wasn't telling the truth? Wouldn't she break under the pressure? That could be a major problem.

He was so deep in his thoughts that he noticed almost too late that someone else arrived at the playing field. He opened his eyes upon the sound of flapping wings and got a fright when he saw a blue silhouettes descend onto the other side. The chick slowly backed away into the bushes, holding his breath. Fortunately, they weren't expecting to find anyone here and the shade covered his retreat well. When he reached the undergrowth, he let out a sigh. That was a close.

"Hey Joe, look at this." one of the birds said, "one of the balls is already in the goal. That means you're already 0-1 behind!"

This place was now impossible for him to stay. Well, it was time to find joy somewhere else anyway. He flew through the bushes until he judged it safe enough to fly at a higher altitude. What would he do next? He was a little thirsty from his game, so some water would be the next stop. He couldn't drink in the centre as usual, it was too crowded. Someone would evidently spot him. The river would be his target, but to get there he had to go all the way around the centre.

He decided to fly low in order to stay out of sight from the ever-wary eyes of the adults soaring around the colony airspace. As a youngster, he was much less impeded by the denser vegetation than they were, so it didn't slow him down. It was the fear of being caught, that kept him from going at full speed. This lengthened his trip, much to his annoyance. After a flight that had seemingly taken a century, he was only halfway. It felt to him like he was wasting a lot of time. Time he could be spending whilst having fun.

He weighed the risk of flying higher and deemed it possible to take that chance. He had already sneaked by the centre of the colony and figured it would be less likely to encounter anyone. Although still not completely relaxed, he was flying faster now and he arrived at the riverbank not a little while later. As he had been taught, he first checked to see if it was safe to land and then perched down. It was only a small stream, not even half the width of one of the main rivers, but he too was not that big, so relatively speaking it was quite an ocean to him.

He scanned his surroundings one last time and then began gulping up the refreshing fluid. Until now, he hadn't realized how thirsty he had been, nor how dry his mouth. All that flying and playing had left him parched. He sighed contentedly and stared at the sky. He couldn't wait to grow up and do whatever he wanted to, just like today. He'd play a lot of football, that was certain.

Suddenly he distinguished two silhouettes. _Blue_ silhouettes! And they were headed his way!

He quickly duck into the bushes, although found that it wasn't as bushy as he had hoped. It was too late now. All he could do was wait with bated breath for the macaws to pass by. He recognized his grandfather and his uncle Roberto. They were discussing heavily. Fortunately, this kept them from spotting him in the not so dense vegetation. When he reckoned they were long gone, he'd allowed himself to breathe again. He wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead.

"Imagine that they had seen me, that would've been a disaster." He spoke to himself.

Behind him a bush rustled and in a panicked reaction he flew right up, realizing only moments from the canopy that his uncle and grandfather could still be within visual range. He hid the nearest tree to avoid being seen by either his family or whatever had startled him. It turned out to have been a tapir. It ventured towards the water, probably for the same reason as himself. Tiago remembered the commentator from the football match between the red and blue macaws. He too drank greedily from the creek and Tiago estimated the animal to be harmless.

He descended silently and landed on the mammal's back.

"Hi!"

The animal looked up.

"What? Who's there?"

"Me!"

The tapir turned its head and saw the little chick on his back.

"Oh. Hello young boy. Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Not me, I'm going to be a professional football player, and professional football players don't need school!" he replied proudly.

"Really? So you're training with the main team yet?"

"Uhm. Not yet. They're still afraid of my enormous talent, but they'll come around."

The tapir nodded with a grin.

"But suppose for a moment that I… that I wasn't thát good. What advice would you give me in order to reach, you know… my level?"

The tapir's smile widened

"I suggest you start training, very often."

Tiago nodded understandingly.

"That's what I would say too."

The old animal laughed.

Tiago was happy that the tapir was up for a chat and as both their interest lie with football, the topic was easy to guess. Tiago asked what experience the commentator himself had with the game, whether he remembered any great players and of course what he thought about Tiago's own style. He picked up a random object from the forest's floor and demonstrated a few of his tricks. Of course, he had careful reviewed the object first, making sure it wasn't too heavy. If so, he'd fail miserably, just as at the training site of the adult macaws.

It was when the sun shone in his eyes through the treetops that Tiago realized he had lost track of the time. School was already over and he was supposed to be home!

"Oh no! I'm sorry, I gotta fly now. See ya later." He uttered distressed.

"Okay. Keep it up champ!" The tapir replied.

On his way back he attempted to figure out an excuse for being late, yet was too busy to avoid any collisions to think of any. Back home he was exhausted, raising even more suspicion with his parents.

"There you are!"

His mother gave him a hug and for a moment he believed that he might not receive a punishment. This moment did not take very long.

"Where have you been?" His father spoke with reprimanding tone.

"I-eh…"

His father's gaze made him rather nervous and his mother and sisters silently awaited his answer. He couldn't think of any other than 'nowhere'. Blu gestured a second time.

"Come on, spill the beans."

An opportunity just arose! Complaining about the incomprehensive proverbs of his father was always a good way of changing the subject. Although for once he knew what it meant, he pretended not to.

"Why would I want to spill beans?"

"It means that-.." Bia tried, but Blu interrupted her.

"No-no-no. Don't you change the subject now."

Sadly it wasn't going to work today. He thought of something which he had caused him to be late before .

"I was just talking to some friends after school, nothing to worry about."

"Is that so, then what were you talking about?"

He thought of the tapir.

"Uhm…football?"

"Really. That's funny. You see, in order for you to talk with your friends at school, shouldn't you need to be at school?"

He was dumbstruck. How could his father know that he had skipped school today? He had walked right into a trap. His father drew an contented face. Tiago stared angrily at the ground. He had busted himself. Or had he? His father already knew he hadn't been there. So someone must have betrayed him.

"Thanks a lot Bia!" He said.

"Don't you dare blame your sister for your own misbehaviour." His mother fired.

"I can't believe you made her lie for you!" Blu groaned.

"Wait, she didn't-.."

"No, she didn't tell us. But you on the other hand have a lot to tell."

Whereas dinner normally proceeded rather vividly for the chicklet, Tiago ate quietly and mostly stared at the floor. The hostility he had felt for being betrayed, had seeped into a shroud of shame. Bia had not betrayed him and he had blamed her still. He had blamed her for having his back. It made him feel terrible. He only ate half as much as he usually did and when they were done, he started sweeping the cracked nutshells without any protest. The guilt gnawed on him like a dog on a bone. It wasn't until he was done with his chore that he realized how tired the day had left him. It wasn't the fun time he had envisioned when the plan had come to mind. It had been a nerve-wrecking day of anxiety and only an occasional bit of joy, not to mention how it had now finished. With him speaking horribly of his own sister.

He wanted to go to bed immediately and sleep to get to another day as quickly as he could, although there was one thing that he _had_ to do first.

"Hey Bia."

She turned around and was surprised to see him. She opened her beak to address him, but he gestured her not to.

"Before you say anything, I wanted you to know that I'm sorry for blaming you."

"It is like Carla said, we are no tattletales." She answered indistinctly.

"I know and I'm sorry that I made you lie for me. It was unfair."

She nodded. He felt the need to give her a hug to show that he was really happy to have her as his sister, but he wasn't sure she'd appreciate it right now.

"So uhm, if I there's something I can do for you-.." he started.

"Well, if you could try not to throw around slugs anymore that would be a genuine start." She remarked.

He laughed and gave her his promise. When she turned around to continue tidying up her nest, he felt the need to say one last thing.

"I don't care what others say. I think you're cool Bia."

He then flew up to his nest. It felt a good to have apologized to his sibling and he already felt much less dreadful than before.

At his bedside, his father was waiting for him. He was afraid to get another sermon for him, but it turned out not to be the case. Instead his father gestured him to come closer and sit next to him.

"Look Tiago. I know you don't like having to learn all those things at school, but it's essential for your future, you know that right? Besides, you mother and I were worried sick when you were gone. Will you please promise me that you'll just go to school and not run off like that again? "

After today, Taigo had learned his lesson and was no longer hesitant in agreeing to his father's proposal.

"Yeah. I promise." He said relieved,.

"Oh… well. Okay."

Blu got up, allowing him to get into his bed.

"Hey, I'll tell you what. How about if you promise to continue going to school, I'll teach you my new football trick this weekend?"

"Really? Can't you show it to me now?"

His father perked an eyebrow.

"Right-right. This weekend. Okay. Thanks dad. "

His father rubbed his head and they wished each other goodnight. Tiago rolled over and his eyelids sank over his pupils. Maybe today wasn't such a bad day after all and with that thought on his mind he fell asleep.


	2. Blu

**Chapter 2: Blu**

A faint whisper echoed from one side of Blu's head to the other. He couldn't clearly distinguish what was being said or whether it was even meant for him. His senses sharpened and the soft voice became clearer. Repeatedly, it called his name, followed by a slight stir in his back. The sound was beautiful and he wondered where it came from. He rolled over and opened his eyes. A sky blue shape got caught in his sight. It poked him again, causing more itches.

"Blu, come on, we gotta go."

"Go…?" He asked confused, "Go where?"

"Find breakfast of course. It's already morning."

"Mmpf, what day is it?" He mumbled.

"Tuesday."

Blu shook his head and stared into Jewel's shamrock green eyes. He had nearly forgotten that he had to find breakfast every morning now that they moved to the Amazon. It made him miss the old days with Linda, where breakfast was served when he woke up. It was a real downside to living in the jungle. Not that he didn't know that back then it had been Linda who had been the one to get up early and arrange the meals.

"Come on, honey. The kids need their nutrients."

As she flew up to wake them, Blu reckoned it was the phase of his life where he and Jewel were the one to take care of breakfast for his children, just as it had been Linda's task to do that for him all these years. He got up and walked from their bedroom to the centre of the nest. He washed his face with water to wake up properly. Jewel landed, tailed by Bia who gave both him and her mother a hug as had become customary whenever they left. The two parents then took off and headed for the Brazil nut trees.

By the time they got there, more macaws had already arrived to gather their favourite meal. In the beginning, Blu thought it would be hard to find anything at all with that much competition. It was then that Jewel had shown him her solution for that problem. Eduardo had told her about a secret spot, where the rest of the flock rarely went. Like before, he followed her as she ventured away from the other macaws to locate this secret spot.

Jewel constantly looked over her shoulder, making her seem a little paranoid. But then again, if someone decided to come with, the secret spot would perhaps not be such a secret anymore. This 'sanctuary' was just below an overhanging rock formation, two minutes east of the rest of the brazil nut trees. Underneath it grew a whole array of different herbs, plants and ferns, combined with various nutritious grasses and berries. The cliff functioned as a parasol, shielding the vegetation below from the sun. As a result, herbs that thrived in the moist shadow were abundant. Blu was ever astounded that no-one else ever came this way.

"Why do you think that is?" he asked her.

"What?" she replied.

He figured that she of course could not read his mind.

"Why would nobody knows about this place?"

"Does it matter?"

Blu shrugged, yet was still intrigued. He observed the entirety of the sanctuary, while he stuffed his fanny pack with nuts and berries. He theorized that not being the regular place to find food would be a major influence. It could be that no-one believed anything was capable of growing down here, whereas there was plenty on top of the rocks. Moreover, macaws were part of a flock and therefore weren't keen on leaving their kind to find new paths. They'd prefer their lives simple and ordinary.

Still. With such a large flock, odds were that someone must have come across it accidently? Apart from Eduardo that was. It puzzled him, yet he didn't mind. He liked puzzles, a feature that was passed on from father to daughter as Bia too was fond of riddles. Maybe he could share this one with her later on.

In his absence of mind, he hardly noticed that Jewel was talking to him.

"Blu?"

"What, sorry I wasn't paying attention."

She gave him a perplexed expression. From the looks of it, he had missed an important conversation. She gestured it was time to go back and together they headed back home. During their departure, Blu noticed that the further they got from the secret place, the more it looked like nothing could grow underneath. He sniggered and figured that he himself would most likely never check under there as well.

Back home, they found an unusual scene of their household. Or perhaps not that unusual for their standards. Carla stood shocked, Tiago lay on his back on the top floor and Bia was washing a slug from the back of her head. She swept it off and started to wash herself. Joined by his wife, Blu flew up to confront his youngest. It took a minute for the latter to even realize that his parents were staring at him.

"We've been gone for, how long…?" he started.

"Ten minutes." Jewel added.

"Ten minutes, Taigo. TEN MINUTES." He continued annoyed. "You are absolutely unbelievable."

His son shook his head and tried to blame the mollusc. Blu glared at him, hinting that it would not fool him. Last week a similar thing happened when Carla caught a berry with her face. It had almost started a world war between his children as Carla was not kind to birds that ruined her looks. As before Blu believed that a certain punishment was required. Then, unexpectedly, his son confessed to his crime.

"I suppose you have to make me stay at home today, I deserve that." The boy pleaded humbly.

Something was off here. And his wife seemed to think that too.

"Nice try, young man. You're just going to school." Jewel grinned.

Blu recovered and followed her reasoning.

"And you know what you're going to do this afternoon."

Tiago faced the ground angrily.

"Oh man, not again."

"Well, you have yourself to thank for that."

He and Jewel spread out the food on the floor. Intendedly, they sat down between Tiago and his sisters, however none of them made an attempt to take revenge. Instead, breakfast proceeded more silently than ever. That changed when Eduardo entered the nest. He greeted them heartily and was subsequently jumped by Tiago. They said some things to each other, Blu couldn't hear after which his father-in-law placed the chicklet back on the ground.

"What brings you here, daddy?" Jewel asked.

"There are multiple things going on in the colony."

"Nothing bad I hope?"

"Nothing that needs your worries. But I do have a favour to ask… from Blu."

Blu was surprised that his father-in-law had come to him for a favour. Even though recent events had improved the relation between the two of them, Eduardo still didn't think very high of him as husband of his daughter.

Ever since they had permanently settled in with the tribe, Blu had been given several tasks, but all of those had been of extreme simplicity. Not that he hated such work, he was just convinced that his mind demanded something more challenging than helping the hospital with their spring clean. Not that he could refuse the patriarch if he was asked face-to-face. That would be disrespectful. Moreover, denying Jewel's dad a favour would probably do more harm than complaining about it afterwards. The brief conflict in his head had thus reached the same conclusion as it always did.

"Sure, what might that be?"

"These matters I just spoke of. They require my attention, thus I have to dish out some of my daily duties. I need you to fill in for me at some point."

Blu's heart increased its rate by a third or so. Jewel had already mentioned before that he would be good candidate for becoming the next patriach of the flock when Eduardo would be retire. Thus far he had kept believing that his wife had only said so to make him feel better, but having the lead male himself ask him to help out with leadership duties, was another matter entirely.

"Alright! Tell me what you need of me!" He said a little too enthusiastically in his own opinion and quickly added: "Sir."

"Come with me and I'll show you. You don't mind do you?" He asked Jewel.

"Not at all, as long as he's back for dinner."

Her father nodded and flew off. Blu gave her a kiss and then followed his father-in-law.

Eduardo didn't like questions, especially if they came from Blu. Therefore, in order to strengthen their relationship, Blu tried to refrain himself as best he could in the elder's presence. This time too it was a harsh ordeal to which he finally succumbed.

"Where are we going exactly?"

"The outskirts of the colony."

The answer was brief and hence, Blu's agonizing period of not asking any further was extended. But after a few seconds the he old macaw sniggered. Blu didn't understand, though felt as if he was being made fun of which he, to put it mildly, disliked. Father or not, if he wouldn't stop laughing… Luckily Eduardo caught his irritated expression.

"No, I wasn't laughing about you. It's just… well, let's say I was already wandering whenever you were gonna ask."

"You wanted me to ask?" Blu reacted surprised.

"Not really." Eduardo replied sternly. "But I know you're always full of questions."

"Well, sir, I've been trying my best not to ask anything."

"Yes, I noticed…" Eduardo replied. "Thank you for that."

"Wow. I'm glad you appreciate th-.."

Eduardo scraped his throat and Blu realized he was about to tarnish all his previous efforts by burying the other in complicated sentences. He heeded the warning immediately and shut his beak. This did not mean however that he didn't have any more questions to ask the patriarch. Why were they going to the outskirts? Normally Eduardo regularly visited the outer limits of their tribe to check in on the guards or even help them deal with invaders or other forms of danger. Blu was not a fan of hazardous jobs, yet he was thrilled that Jewel's dad finally appreciated him, perhaps even trusted him with something important such as safety.

"We are here."

Blu looked around at the place where they had landed. There were trees of various species and sizes. Some were partially constricted by strangler figs, others had already been killed by the parasitic vegetation, leaving 'hollow trees'. He spotted some macaws piling sticks and leaves onto a branch of such an independent strangler. This was not the border, this was ground under construction. Eduardo had waited for him to take in every bit of his surroundings and started to explain.

"This is our building site."

"Yeah, I figured as much." Blu spoke, slightly disappointed.

"Then I trust you know why we're here too?"

Blu didn't look at him, nor did he respond. He felt an agitation building. Of course his father-in-law didn't trust him with safety. He was given the dumbest task of them all. Building houses. This was not an important job that needed his attention. He was only being made a fool of. He received simple work such as gathering supplies for the hospital or help clean the pool in the colony's centre. Now he had to help build nests with the other workers! Surely he respected the birds that did this kind of work, mostly since he had a taster day with each of them, but deep down he reckoned he was gifted enough to do something more challenging.

Meanwhile it seemed as if Eduardo had enough of waiting and continued.

"Alright. The task that I had in mind for you is to be the supervisor of this site."

Blu frowned, there it was he had to… wait a second. Did he just say supervisor? As in leading them? He was so dumbstruck that he was actually given a challenging job this time, that he didn't know what to say first. Eduardo's face meanwhile remained deadpanned, whereas Blu could hardly contain his joy.

"You think you can handle that?"

Blu realized that even though his enthusiasm was probably written all over his face he had not yet verbally accepted the job.

"I-I'll do my best, sir."

The old macaw snorted approvingly.

"I'll trust that you'll have at least one nest completed at the end of the day. Can you manage that?" Eduardo said, handing him a list of names.

"The entire day for one nest?" He responded too scornfully.

He sensed Eduardo's aura drop far below zero. He feared that with this remark he had blown his opportunity of leadership by this slip-up.

"If you believe it's so easy to build a nest, I suppose you'll have two up and running by the end of today then, don't you?"

The elder left in an irritated mood. Blu silently thanked his guardian angel for being given a chance after all, even though it meant he had to double the workers' usual building rate. Hopefully that wouldn't be too much effort.

"Hey fellows, how's it going?"

Blu tried to act familial with the workers and they greeted him in a similar matter, although did not really answer his question. He had to play this smart if he was to get them to listen to him. He took the piece of bark that Eduardo had given to him. It listed the names of the labourers that were supposed to be on duty today. Five names were written down. He knew two of them, but the other three were new. Nonetheless it was evident that there were only four birds working.

"Guys, can I have your attention please?" He asked.

The macaws didn't respond. He had to show more strength, he had to act more leader-like.

"All of you, gather 'round me." He said firmly.

This time, they did as they were commanded and formed a circle around Blu. He introduced himself to them and they returned the favour, which led to the discovery that the one not being present, was named Michael.

"Does anyone know where he is?"

"I don't know, normally he's on time."

"It's not the first time though."

"What do you mean?"

"There was a time that he just took a day off when he felt like it, but since Eduardo took control of the site personally, that changed."

Blu wondered why the man would fall back into his old habits already, unless he knew that Blu would be substituting today. But even he himself did not know that until this morning. Maybe the bird was just ill?

Blu asked the other men for his address and subsequently left to find out why he was missing. He trusted the rest to keep on working as they had done before he had arrived and estimated that it wouldn't hurt to be gone for a few minutes. According to the instructions he got, Michael lived close by and it wouldn't take long to retrieve the absent employee. Meanwhile he thought of how to increase the building rate to reach 200% production. Without stimulus, it was unlikely that the builders would simply double their efforts, and how to get these men to perform _more _work? The labour they did was not light. But if he couldn't get them to work twice as much, how would he achieve twice the produce?

As predicted, it took him only a couple of minutes to reach Michael's nest. After a few knocks it became clear that nobody was home. He gritted his beak. This was a bitter blow. How was he supposed to find the macaw without knowing anything about him? He caught sight of a neighbour leaving her house. It was an older bird and Blu was quick to intercept her before she left.

"Michael? Sure, I saw him leave for the 'Cracked Shell' this morning."

"The Cracked Shell?"

She nodded.

"It's a place where some of the men gather during their spare time. It's not far from here."

So he wasn't ill, he was just playing hooky. That was another disappointment, now he had to come up with a plan to win him over.

The female macaw was kind enough to explain to him how to get there. He thanked her for her help.

The establishment was situated in a wide hollow strangler fig, similar to those they were working on at the building site. This one was already finished, had two floors, a roof and a sign outside that spelled: 'Cracked Shell'.

"Charming, the colony has its own bar." Blu remarked to himself.

It wasn't crowded inside, actually except for a group of birds in the corner and a macaw that brought a couple shells filled with an unidentified liquid to them there was nobody present. The group consisted of four birds and they were talking and laughing loudly, which clearly satisfied the owner of the bar. As long as his customers were conversing lively, he kept selling drinks. His eye fell on Blu and he came over to ask whether he desired a drink as well.

"Would you like to order something, sir?"

"Order? How does that work?"

"That's quite simple. I write down you name and everything you have ordered and every five drinks I am allowed to invoice it for a favour or a payment from you."

Blu nodded. He had already seen the same kind of service or goods exchange in the colony before.

"Water, lemon, ripe juice?"

"Ripe juice? What's that?"

The macaw looked astounded by his guest's lack of common knowledge, yet was not planning to have a customer slip through his grasp. He immediately presented Blu with a sample in a brazil nut shell that functioned as cup. It tasted so sour it made him wince.

"Not to your liking?" The barman asked politely.

"What is this stuff and why does it taste this way?" He said, handing the cup back.

"It's for real men!" Someone shouted to him.

One of the macaws from the quartet in the corner imitated Blu's expression upon drinking the juice and the others laughed.

"It's juice from old berries." The barman said. "It has a sharp flavour, but it gives a nice warm feeling and it boosts your mood."

Old berries. Blu had read something about that. When fruit is ripe enough, it falls from the trees and if it is not eaten by an animal, it slowly starts to ferment. This process caused by bacteria creates alcohol as a by-product. So, in truth, he was drinking an alcoholic beverage, Amazon style. No wonder he didn't like it.

The bar owner still waited for him to make his choice. Blu eventually choose water, resulting in his host disappearing in the back. He looked at the men in the corner, whose attention he had already lost again. He walked up to them and was solely greeted by suspicious eyes. One by one, Blu checked the faces and wondered which of them was Michael. If he was just going to ask, he needed a solid reason for doing so; they were already wary of him as a newcomer. Also, if he told them he was looking for Michael because he skipped work, they might turn on him. He needed to persuade the man into giving away his identity _freely_.

"What are you birds doing inside on a day like this?"

They all laughed at him, a reaction he had expected, but the first to laugh would probably be the leader and that was then the one he needed to address.

"What do you think we're doing?" The largest spoke.

"Having fun, surely." Blu replied, still observing all faces.

"That's right, but this table's full so why don't you go and sit over there." The muscled bird continued.

Blu had a hunch that this brawny, dominant male was the alpha of the gang. Additionally, it was probable that this was Michael. He acted so bold and daring, whereas the rest looked lemming-like and didn't seem willing to take an initiative. The next step was to confirm that hunch.

"No, I didn't come here to drink. I came here on behalf of my work."

"Really? And what work would that be?" another asked.

"I'm supervisor of the building site."

"You? Supervisor of the workers?" He scoffed.

The heavily build macaw laughed and stomped his friend's shoulder so that they too would laugh. Blu realized that his gut feeling had been correct, the leader had to be Michael. Now he had to persuade him to come back to work, however the first signs were not promising. His brains functioned at maximum capacity. Meanwhile, Michael seemed not yet done mocking him.

"Who would listen to a wimp like you? They need strong men, like me."

So Michael was happy to feel needed, did he? A devious scheme popped into Blu's mind.

"Yes, well that's why I'm not assigned to do the lifting, but you are."

One of the side-kicks sniggered, but was silenced by a harsh glare from Michael.

"And as it turns out, I'm looking for new lifters." Blu spoke to Michael's friends.

"We don't want to help with any of your stupid work." Michael answered for them.

Blu ignored the macaw completely and addressed the others. He could see in their eyes that they were interested, however they knew better than to defy the muscled bird next to them.

"It has a decent pay and extra hours get you a bonus."

"I said -.."

But Blu rudely interrupted him, even reprimanding him like a child.

"Would you be quiet? I was not talking to you Michael."

The others held their breath and looked with renewed respect at this macaw as he so nonchalantly bullied the one they feared. The latter too stood with an open beak and was astonished by this haughty response.

"So, what do you say? Are you going to hang around here, or will you earn yourself some goods?"

The three others now openly showed their interest in this proposal. It was clearly readable in their body language that it had been a long time since they had been offered a job at all. Michael, who was still flabbergasted, watched clueless as his side-kicks left him without hesitation and rose from their seats to join Blu. Ultimately, he managed to let out his disagreement.

"Guys, are you seriously going with that scrag?"

"Sorry man, I really need some work." One said.

"Yeah me too. My wife complains that I contribute nothing to my family and she is right."

"We all need an income bro, we can't live off air."

"But… but…"

Blu immediately seized this chance to deal the final blow.

"That's great. If you come with me right this instant, I'll still grant you a full day's salary and we are still able to reach our deadline."

"Impossible!" Michael yelled angrily, "You need me to get that work done!"

"Ah you see Michael, that's where you're wrong." Blu smiled to his foe's glaring. "With these three fine gentlemen here, I've got more than enough manpower to build twice as much as before. And with so many extra wings, I can easily go without you."

Michael's glare faded and he knew there was no arguing to that logic. He also seemed to expect what Blu was going to say next.

"In other words, consider yourself fired."

Blu turned around and asked for his new recruits to follow him. They looked back at their former idol. The fact that he hated them so much for disagreeing with him once, made them realize that perhaps they were better off without him.

Back at the construction site, the others were glad to see Blu had hired some extra birds to help out. A short round of introductions was made and their names were added them to the list. Blu hoped that Eduardo wouldn't mind him having recruited additional men. Having more men present, the heavier tasks became a minor issue and that combined with new stories in the group, significantly boosted the morale of everyone.

When they all went for lunch, the first nest was finished already. They were right on schedule. During the lunch, Blu listened with intrigue to the tales each of them shared. They even spoke about football and one of the workers demonstrated a new trick that he had developed. Blu observed carefully and thought he might be able to pull that off himself if he tried.

Upon their return, they were all shocked to see who awaited them at the building site. Michael sat on a branch and stood up as he recognized the man in charge. Blu feared that the man had come for revenge and might have the intention to beat him up. If so, what would he do? He could ask the others to help him, yet wouldn't that make him a coward? Well, whatever was gonna happen, he was going to stand tall and take on whatever Michael would fling at him. They were face-to-face, and the tension was tangible. Then the beefcake began the conversation.

"I thought I might find you here." He roared.

"You thought correctly." Blu replied deadpanned.

"I have something to say to you."

Blu figured that if his opponent wanted to hit him, he would probably not be able to stop him, not at this range. Still, he had faced greater threats than this puffed up macaw. He would stand his ground.

"Well, speak up then."

"I want to apologize for acting so annoying this morning. Could you please rehire me? Without this job I got nothing to do and no money."

Stunned by both the politeness and content of this proposition, Blu took a moment to overthink this possibility. The whispers of the workers behind him gave away that they too did not expect this. He wanted to say that Michael should have thought of that before, yet Blu wasn't that kind of bird. Besides, he could certainly use the extra muscles. Then there would be no doubt that he could win his bet with Eduardo, but he wasn't sure that it was worth the risk of hiring this particular bird.

Everyone waited in silence for Blu's answer.

"Alright then, but I shall withhold your wage from today."

"Thank you sir. I mean, of course." Michael pleaded humbly.

Michael was welcomed warmly by his friends from the pub and they all resumed their work without further argue. Blu reckoned that that it was a fitting punishment and that having given him a second chance, Michael would surely think twice before skipping work again. Blu noticed also that the morale had gotten even higher. Rehiring the beefcake had not just done the work good, but his friends too were pleased with the return of their amigo. Blu saw that this visibly touched the big guy, although he did his best to hide that.

By the end of the day, Eduardo had returned and looked amazed as he witnessed not only twice as many workers, but also twice as much enthusiasm. They had successfully constructed almost three nests and Blu grinned as he spotted the elder's expression. Eduardo quickly regained his usual grumpy attitude upon catching eye of his son-in-law. He reluctantly admitted that he had lost his bet and offered to take charge again.

"No thanks. I want to finish the day. I think it would be unfair if I left before they did. Can you tell Jewel I'm home a little later?"

Eduardo nodded. Blu noted that Eduardo's wing was missing a few feathers, however before he could ask, he had departed. When the elder soared away, he winced for and instant. Blu wondered what he had done to gain such a wound. It would be another puzzle to figure out.

.

When Blu got home, dinner had already been gathered. The nuts and fruits were spread out and their scent was welcoming after a long day of work. Bia and Carla had just arrived as well, but Tiago was not present. He was probably already upstairs. Jewel too was nowhere to be found, probably in the other room.

"How was school today?" He asked Bia.

"It was fun, but -.."

"Easy, we know that." Carla sighed annoyed.

Bia's smile turned upside down and she glared at her sister, but the latter had already found her iPod and had cut off further communication with her family. Blu sniggered. Perhaps his second child really was too smart for the basic education provided by the flock. He noted Bia looking at him. Something was off. She looked nervous, though he wasn't sure.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, not at all, why would you say that?" She replied hastily and turned the other way.

There it was, a glistering in her eyes. Was she… lying?

"Bia. What is wrong?" Blu repeated himself.

"Nothing, I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Tiago skipped school today!" Jewel exclaimed when she entered.

"What?!" both exclaimed.

"What are you surprised about Bia? Shouldn't you have missed him at school already?" Blu said angrily.

The addressed chicklet looked at the floor. So she _had _been lying! Incredible. She had never lied to him before. It made him feel disappointed and sad.

"I hope that he's alright." Jewel said worried.

"Why Bia? Why did you lie?" Blu reprimanded his second child.

"Dad, I-"

Before she could respond, Tiago entered the nest and everyone stared at him.

"There you are!" His wife immediately dashed forward and hugged her son.

"Where have been?" Blu asked far less kindly.

Although Blu already knew the answer, it would be best for his son to come clean by himself. Tiago hesitated and his son's body language gave away an attempt to come up with an excuse. Better not give him that time.

"Spill the beans!"

"Why would I want to spill beans?" His son said.

Bia already started explaining, but her father was quick to keep her quiet.

"No-no-no. Don't you change the subject."

"I was just talking to some friends after school, nothing to worry about."

That was an extremely bad excuse, even for Tiago. This would be even easier than he thought.

"Is that so, then what were you talking about?"

Again his son took his time to answer.

"Uhm…football?"

The sadistic game had taken long enough.

"Really. That's funny. You see, in order for you to talk with your friends at school, shouldn't you need to _be_ at school?"

The amazement was written all over the Tiago's face. Then, the surprise turned to anger.

"Thanks a lot Bia!" He called to her.

"Don't you dare blame your sister for your own misbehaviour." Jewel protected her daughter.

"I can't believe you made her lie for you!" Blu said more to himself than to his son.

"Wait, she didn't-.."

"No, she didn't tell us. But you on the other hand have a lot to tell!"

After Tiago had briefly described his activities he was allowed to eat with his sisters. Jewel suggested that it would be better if they sat in between them to prevent a riot, however it remained suspiciously quiet. Tiago looked miserable and Bia and Carla didn't pay any attention to him at all. When supper was over, he handed his son the broom. Amazingly, the chicklet started his chore without moaning. Blu sat down and watched the scene from a distance, while Jewel took Carla outside. After a few seconds, Bia landed next to him.

"I'm sorry I lied dad." She apologized.

He looked at her and recognized her usual sincerity, that which he had not seen earlier.

"It's alright Bia. Loyalty to your family is a good thing."

She raised both eyebrows.

"So… it was okay that I lied?"

"I didn't say that. You lied to me and I'm family too."

His daughter looked downcast.

"But, because it's your first lie, I'll condone it this time."

She gave him a hug and left for her room. Meanwhile, Tiago had been so deep down in thoughts that he hadn't even noticed the conversation. After he was done, he returned the broom to its proper spot and flew up the nest. Blu thought back of his time with Linda, when he was young. He remembered not being such a saint as well when he was younger. He grinned thinking of those moments.

Carla and Jewel came back inside and after kissing her mom, the chicklet went to her room. Jewel watched her soar up the nest until she was out of sight. Then she came over to Blu, who hinted her to explain why Carla appeared more affectionate towards her mom than usual.

"Oh, nothing special." She replied vaguely and plumped down on the floor next to her husband.

Normally they'd tell one another about their day, but Jewel yawned loudly and Blu figured she had to be really tired. She confirmed this after she caught his gaze and smiled. Then she went for their bedroom.

"I'll be right there, just a moment." Blu said.

She nodded again and he flew up. Surprisingly, the boy was not there and Blu heard that one floor below him, his son apologized to Bia. A glimmer of pride dulled his stern look. Tiago could be a decent person if he wanted to. He just needed a nudge more often than his other two kids. The initial intention to scold the boy for his behaviour faded. Blu sat down on the edge of the bed and waiting for his son to come up. When Tiago eventually turned up, he looked frightened. Blu gestured him to sit down.

"Look Tiago. I know you don't like having to learn all those things at school, but it's essential for your future, you know that right? Besides, you mother and I were worried sick when you were gone. Will you please promise me that you'll just go to school and not run off like that again? " He asked.

"Yeah. I promise." Tiago replied unexpectedly cheerful.

"Oh… well. Okay."

Getting his son to agree went easier than he imagined and Blu was surprised by the abrupt change of his son's stance towards school. He got up and allowed his son to get in bed. Nonetheless, Blu felt the need to stimulate his son's new attitude.

"Hey, I'll tell you what. How about if you promise to continue going to school, I'll teach you my new football trick this weekend?"

"Really? Can't you show it to me now?"

Blu raised an eyebrow in amusement. That feature of his son at least hadn't changed.

"Right-right. This weekend. Okay. Thanks dad. "

"Night, dad." His son answered upon getting his head stroked.

"Goodnight Tiago."

When Blu flew back down again, he didn't even notice that he was smiling. It was Jewel who pointed it out.

"What's so funny?" She asked, sounding clearly tired.

Blu found himself also pretty worn out, thus replied as vaguely as she had earlier on.

"Oh, nothing special."

He wasn't sure whether she was too tired to respond, or found it actually enjoyable that he had copied her remark, but she answered with another brief smile. Blu sat down next to her and flapped his wing around his wife. She placed her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Blu recollected his day and summarized the events in his head. After a brief moment he too closed his eyes and drew a simple conclusion.

"It had been just another Tuesday."


	3. Bia

**Chapter 3: Bia**

The sun shone brightly onto her eyes. Whereas some birds would roll over and postpone the beginning of the day, Bia was not most birds. She rose to her feet in a fluent motion and was, as always, right on time to see her mother appear at her bedside.

"Morning Bia."

"Morning mom." she replied.

From here on, everything would go according to a well-rehearsed schedule, which allowed her to perform all her morning tasks in the amount of time she was given.

As her mother flew further up the tree to wake up the last and youngest of the three chicks, Bia started to comb her hair with a pinecone. With only a few strokes, the feathers aligned to form her distinctive haircut. Although she wasn't done by a long shot, she now descended to see her parents out as they went to gather breakfast.

"Good morning dad."

"Morning Bia." He replied.

She kissed both him and her mother and waved at them as they departed. Her daily rhythm continued with washing her face and cleaning her feathers. As she went back up, Carla passed by looking grumpy. As she brushed her tail with the 'pinecomb', she heard a noise upstairs.

"Tiago, what are you doing?" Carla demanded from below.

"Nothing!" He yelled back.

Whatever he was doing, it had probably something to do with football. It always did with him. She proceeded her grooming when suddenly the midsection of the pinecone broke off. Bia sighed annoyed. She opened the small cupboard that she had next to her bed, only to find it empty. Carla. Surely her sister had taken her spare comb again. She peeped over the edge to look down.

"Hey Carla, have you seen my -.."

A slap against the back of her head and an unnerving cold and wet feeling. Slime dripped down her neck and she shivered in disgust. She realized that only one person could be responsible.

"TIAGO!" She yelled as she heard him laugh.

She descended to the water reservoir in the centre to clean herself.

"Oh my gosh. Bia there's a-.."

"A slug. Yeah. You think I didn't know!?"

Carla assisted her in rubbing off the slime, which luckily went rather easily. Her sister then combed her hair.

"I swear, one day I'm gonna kill him." Bia said.

Bia thought of the idea of a life without Tiago would surely be a pleasant one. Then she shook her head.

"Well, luckily mom and dad are back to do it for you." Carla pointed out.

"He's such a... uh."

Bia couldn't really find a proper term to name her diabolic brother.

"A nuissance?"

"Yeah, he really is nuisance sometimes."

"Sometimes? Really Bia? Don't you think that's a bit of an understatement?" Carla replied in disbelief.

"Well-.."

"Girls, breakfast." Jewel called.

Without as much as looking at her brother, Bia ate her Brazil nuts. He might be her family, that didn't mean she put up with his pranks. Unexpectedly, her grandfather entered the room. Bia contemplated going to see him, though eventually chose not to. Tiago had already jumped him and she didn't want to break her silence with him yet. When she had eaten her breakfast, she resumed her orderly schedule to prepare for school. This may not include much for her, but she always had about ten spare minutes and now with the slug incident, she could use them very well.

Carla on the other hand always needed more time than there was available.

"Carla, hurry up. You don't want to be late." Their mother called.

"Yeah, I'm almost ready."

Three unamused motherly calls later, Carla finally appeared. Jewel reprimanded her, to which she shrugged in reply. When they arrived at the tree of education, Bia was glad to see that they were more than in time. She had never been late to anything and didn't plan to do so any time in the near-future.

"And don't forget sweeties, dad and I aren't able to pick you up after school so you'll have to go back home together, okay?" Jewel said.

"We promise." Tiago pledged.

This act contradicted his entire lifestyle and was therefore highly suspicious. Though their mother didn't seem to notice, Bia and Carla exchanged a quick glance, sharing their distrust. She gave each of her kids a kiss and then soared away.

"What are you up to?" Carla demanded.

Bia noticed a strange smile on her brother's face.

"Nothing, why do you ask?" He said.

A short moment of silence passed by before Tiago explained his intentions nonetheless.

"I'm gonna skip school today."

"What? Why?" Bia let out astonished.

"Why? Because it's boring, that's why." Her brother sighed.

"Can't argue with that…" Carla remarked.

Bia couldn't see what was so boring about school. It was such fun to learn everything about this place. Was it perhaps cool to hate school? Cool was after all, a concept Bia had never fully understood. Its meaning seemed to vary from time to time, only to suit its user's purpose.

"…but what if mom and dad find out?"

"They won't, because you won't tell them." Tiago continued.

"Hey! Don't you call me a tattletale!"

"But what about the teacher? Won't she report you if you don't show?" Bia reasoned.

Her brother mulled this over. As expected, his plan was nothing more than a rebellious idea, unfounded and not thought of properly. Even this basic problem, had not occurred to him until she herself had told him about it.

"Yeah, I don't suppose you could make something up…?" He said at length.

Did he just ask them to lie for him? After this morning? Not to mention that lying was not in Bia's nature. It was unfair to whomever the lie was told and her father had taught her that nothing bad ever came from it.

"Forget it." Carla answered, walking away.

Left alone with her savage sibling, Bia shot him a sarcastic look. Did he really expect her to help him?

"Me? I'm a terrible liar. And don't forget that I'm still mad at you for 'slug'ing me this morning!"

"Ah. That was all in good fun." He laughed.

Maybe it had been fun to him, but to her it had been a highly unpleasant experience.

"... You're not boring, are you?"

"No!"

A brief moment past by as Bia thought about this last remark. Was she boring? She had heard others saying that she was, but her parents had guaranteed her that she wasn't. Cool and dull were natural opposites and what school's social life had taught her, was that coolness was an important feature. It determined your social ranking in the children hierarchy. She chose to verify her answer.

"… At least I think not.."

"I KNOW not. Because only really boring birds wouldn't want to help out their brother. And you want to help out your brother, don't you?"

He was clearly trying to manipulate her. She wanted to walk away, just as her sister had. But like her father, she too believed strongly in aiding family. Also the possibility to boost her place on the social ladder was appealing. By her own calculations, she wasn't really top shelf right now.

"Come on, you're my cool sister, remember?" He pushed on.

"I thought Carla was your cool sister." Bia answered slightly amused by his increasingly desperate attempts to gain her favour.

"No-no-no. You're the cool one, everyone knows that!"

She hesitated for another moment. Maybe it would be a nice change of pace to do something rebellious. And who knew? It might even make her look cool!

"Alright, I'll help you out, but you must promise me not to do anything stupid or dangerous."

"Pff, you sound like..." He swallowed his sentence and chose his new words with care. "You got my word."

Before Bia could say anything else, her brother soared away. Not soon after he got out of sight, it began to dawn on her what she had gotten herself into. She now either had to lie or break a promise to her own family. This was going to be a tough decision to make.

As she pondered about her dilemma, her eye fell on Carla, who stood on a branch below. Next to her was a red macaw. She looked at him adoringly and Bia remembered her sister talking about her boyfriend, Ricardo. He was a 'bad boy' she had said. Bia frowned as she saw them together. Both gut and mind whispered that he was not be trusted. Bia had told her mother about Carla's relationship with him once it had begun, but she had said that it was up to Carla to decide whether he was good or bad.

When he departed, Carla came back up.

"He's sooo hot." She said dreamingly.

"I still don't trust him." Bia replied.

"What? Why not?" Carla asked confused, breaking free from her trance.

"I think he's bad news."

"Well I don't care what you think!" She snapped and strutted away.

Once the entire class had settled and the teacher, Miss Mayara, had maned her unruly group of chicklets to silence, she checked the presence of the students. This was the customary start of every day at school and was normally not a reason for anyone to be nervous. But Bia was, and for good reason. With every name that passed, her anxiety grew.

"Juan?"

"Yes."

"Will?"

"Here."

The group of chicklets sat in rows of five behind small wooden tables with a total of twenty-two. The teacher stood in front of the classroom, reading the names from a piece of bark. Behind her hung a dark, rectangular-shaped stone for the purpose of a blackboard. Bia tapped with her feet. She still didn't know if she had to lie for or betray her brother. Carla had said that acting ignorant about his absence would both look cool and be sweet payback for that morning. But Bia didn't hold grudges very long, and with every second, the plan for revenge seemed to look worse.

"Bia?"

She was so deep in thoughts that she hadn't heard her own name the first time.

"Yes!" She said quickly.

"Carla."

"Hmpf." Her sister grunted.

"Tiago?"

A silence passed by as all looked at Tiago's empty spot. Miss Mayara repeated his name and looked around the group of small faces in front of her. She eventually turned to Bia and Carla, of whom the latter shrugged uninterestedly.

"Where is your brother, Bia?"

"I-eh…"

The eyes of everyone felt like hot needles stinging her in all places. She had to make a choice. Now.

"He-errr… He's with my dad to the-err… to the doctor."

Carla's laconic attitude broke and she glanced surprised at her sister. Miss Mayara had never had any trust issues with Bia before, however her hesitation in answering the question had her double-check this with the other sibling.

"Is that true Carla?"

The schoolteacher's sharp gaze rested on the chicklet next to her. Bia felt a drop of sweat slide down her back. Please, don't expose me Carla she thought in anguish.

"Yeah, probably. I don't care."

Although it was a ridiculous answer to give to the posed question, miss Mayara knew Carla long enough to realize it was the best one could hope to receive from the ever-bored chick. When she resumed reading the names, Bia heard a whisper.

"Why did you do that?" Carla hushed.

"I promised."

"Why?"

The conversation was abruptly terminated as miss Mayara was done with her checklist and started today's lessons. The first topic was topography, which was the most difficult for Bia, since she hadn't been taught the area surrounding the colony for that long. That said, this didn't mean that 'difficult' was truly the word to address the relation between her and the subject. In comparison to the other macaws, she was still part of the top ten percent of her class. She enjoyed topography a lot, because it had so much new information to offer. By now she had completely forgotten about her brother. Whether he was there or he wasn't, topography exercises were solo tasks hence she noticed little of his absence.

The same was true for physics, where the younglings learned about how to use certain things in their environment for various important purposes, such as building, foraging and survival.

A bell rang and it was time for lunchbreak. In a different part of the tree, all the students gathered to either receive food from the school or from parents that dropped by. Bia and Carla were standing in line for the canteen.

"I just don't understand why you'd cover for him."

"He's still our brother."

"So? You're his sister and that didn't stop him from throwing a slug on you."

Bia considered this. It was a valid point.

"Besides, when did you decide that lying was okay?"

"I don't know, I figured it made me look cool." Bia replied disappointed.

Thinking of it, she concluded that since it was supposed to be a secret, nobody would ever know she had done it. Who would ever get to know that she wás cool? It had all been for nothing.

"Hey, chin up. I think you're cool." Carla said.

"Really? Why?"

"Well eh…"

Carla evaded her look. It was clear she only said so to cheer Bia up. Fortunately it had helped.

"Thanks Carla."

"No probl-ooooh. I'll be right back, can you keep my spot?"

The excited macaw rushed off and before her sister submerged in the feathery crowd, Bia caught a red glimpse. No doubt it was Ricardo again.

She sighed. Alone again. That her sister would be back _soon _turned out to be a hollow promise and she spent her entire lunch eating alone.

"Just another Tuesday." She said indifferently to herself.

Meanwhile she contemplated whether to correct her wrong and tell Miss Mayara the true reason for Tiago's absence. Probably a bad idea. She was already neck deep in it and having lied already, she had become an accomplice. No, she had to keep up the pretence, there was no going back.

The afternoon continued with crafts, another subject in which Bia excelled. In contrast to most girl macaws, she was not afraid to break a talon and, most of all, she was very resourceful. When it came to improvising with equipment, father and daughter were very much alike. The only handicap that she had was that she was often two steps ahead of herself. This led to minor slip ups that could slow down her progress, yet correcting the errors was never much of an issue.

Today was a dual assignment with Carla, however she left most of the work to her fellow student. Bia didn't mind. Her sister was not as gifted as she was herself and her work partner would only ruin the construction. That didn't mean however, that Miss Mayara liked it this way. More than once she came by to spur Carla into doing more of the work and Bia into doing less.

"No, no, you're doing it all wrong!" Bia lectured her sibling agitatedly as she watched misuse a liana-rope.

"I'm trying, alright?! Geez!"

Her sister was even more irritable and absent-minded than normal. When Bia asked about it though, she waved her wing and demanded Bia to leave her alone. It had to have been something during the lunchbreak. Maybe Ricardo had broken up with her? No, that wasn't likely to have happened. Nonetheless, Bia's instincts told her something was off.

Late afternoon when the school finished, Bia got left behind in the classroom as she was conversing with Miss Mayara. The topic was one of a relatively high academic rating. It concerned the use of support beams for adding a veranda to a nest. Though her teacher seemed convinced that Bia had worked the idea out properly, she was not yet fully convinced about its sustainability.

"Won't weather tear it apart quite easily? Strong winds are quite common in the rain season."

"Yes, that's why I was already thinking about a mechanism to reel the plateau back inside. Look, I've already made a sketch."

Bia showed the piece of bark to her interlocutor. She nodded intrigued.

"See, if we were to add some liana here and here, we might -.."

"Uhm, Bia?"

The intrusion was by Carla, who looked even more saturnine than earlier today.

"Mom told us to go home straight away remember?"

"I-eh... She did, yes."

Bia was caught completely off guard. True, her mother had said as much, but she had estimated to have at least another fifteen minutes before Carla would have mustered the sense of duty to actually do as their mother had said. Carla wanting to go home already was a genuine surprise. A bit scary even.

"Are you alright dear?" Miss Mayara asked.

Apparently the teacher also took notion of Carla's unorthodox attitude. Her sibling gazed emptily at the floor for a moment prior to answering.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!" Carla sparked.

Bia expected a reprimand for speaking so out of tone against their teacher. There wasn't one.

"Okay. Then I'll leave you two to go home. See you tomorrow."

Bia said goodbye to Miss Mayara and the two girls headed back home. The entire trip, both were quiet as the grave. On other days, Bia would've been drowned in stories about Ricardo. The absence of that today, empowered her suspicion that he was the cause of her sister's heavy-hearted feeling.

At the nest, dinner was already spread out. Various nuts, berries and fruits filled the room with their sweet odour. Bia saw her mother outside through the window. She was talking to someone, yet couldn't see who it was. They barely sat down or Blu entered as well.

"Everyone, I'm home!" He said cheerfully.

When there was little reply, he went over to his daughters and received a hug from the youngest of the two as had become customary. In return he asked about her day.

"It was fun!" she exclaimed, "but-.."

"Easy, we know that." Carla interrupted her.

Bia gave her sister an annoyed look. Her father chuckled. She looked at him. It won't be long before he would be wondering where Tiago was. Why wasn't he back yet? This would give troubles. Hopefully he'd come home soon. Like right _now_. Nervously, she looked at the door and back at her old man. When he glanced back, she turned away her eyes just an instant too soon.

"Is there a problem?" He asked.

"No, not at all, why would you say that?"

Bia realized that her accelerated speech was clear evidence of the opposite and quickly she shifted her sights to the door, hoping once more that her brother would enter.

"Bia. What is wrong?"

"Nothing, I don't know." She replied tentative.

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

Jewel entered and the look in her eyes showed that she was distressed.

"Tiago skipped school today!"

"What?!" Bia and Blu called out.

She flapped her wings in front of her beak. She was busted. She could never have been surprised by this news since she should've noticed it at school, and it was this fact that Blu pointed out. His voice exerted true disappointment, causing the little chick to stare at the ground in shame.

"So you were lying." He continued.

The tone of his words weighed even heavier than the words themselves. She had let her father down. Before she could answer him, Tiago suddenly showed up in the doorway. Too little too late. The boy was hugged by his mother, though his father greeted him far less friendly.

"Spill the beans!"

"Why would I want to spill beans?" Tiago replied.

Her brother knew so little!

"It is a saying, it means -.."

"No-no-no-no-no. Don't you change the subject." Blu pointed menacingly at his son.

A conversation unfolded in which her father, whom already knew where Tiago had been, tried to have the kid explain himself. Her brother had no clue how much he embarrassed himself as he tried to lie his way to safety. It was only when her father revealed this knowledge that Tiago knew he had been made a fool of.

"Thanks a lot Bia!"

The sadness that she felt for having lied to her own family was substituted by anger. Anger towards her brother, who so blindly accused her. She had not betrayed him! She had risked so much by lying for him and this was his gratitude? She was glad that her mother stood up for her.

"Don't you dare blame your sister for your own misbehaviour." Jewel retorted.

"I can't believe you made her lie for you!" Blu said.

Having been caught red-handed, Tiago started to explain where he had been and what he had done. Meanwhile the other two chicklets already began with their dinner.

"I told you, he's a devil in blue feathers." Carla said.

Bia nodded.

Once their brother joined them, they symbolically moved a bit further away from him and pretended not to see him. Their parents sat down in between them. Supper was brief and quiet. An occasional few words were said, but that was all. Afterwards Tiago was given the broom to start cleaning.

Just desert.

It was all his fault after all. Although Bia still felt somewhat guilty herself. It was her who had agreed to lie and had done so. That was not his fault, but her own. She went over to her father, who was watching her baby brother sweep out the nest.

"I'm sorry I lied dad. " She started.

"It's alright Bia. Loyalty to your family is a good thing."

This unexpected reply confused her. Did he approve that she had lied to him?

"It was okay that I lied?"

"I didn't say that. You lied to me and I'm family too. But, because it's your first lie, I'll condone it this time."

Happy that her father was not so mad after all, she gave him a firm hug.

"Thanks dad. I won't do it again."

"I sure hope so!" Blu smiled.

In the corner of her eye she spotted her spare comb, the one Carla had taken that morning. Never did her sister return that what she had borrowed, so it was to be expected that this too would remain 'borrowed'. She picked it up and flew upstairs to stash the item back in the cupboard next to her bed.

"Hey Bia."

Although she had already heard who it was, she turned around to make sure she wasn't going to get another slug in her neck.

"Before you say anything, I wanted you to know that I'm sorry for blaming you."

He sounded sincere, a way in which he never spoke a lot.

"Carla already said we are no tattletales."

"I know and I'm sorry that I made you lie for me. It was unfair."

Bia nodded. It had indeed be unfair towards her and she was glad that her brother showed enough signs of growing up to admit that he had put her in an uncomfortable position.

"So ehm, if I there's something I can do for you-.." he started.

The girl macaw raised an eyebrow. This was a golden opportunity to rub his face in his own childish behaviour.

"Well, if you could try not to throw around slugs anymore that would be a genuine start."

He laughed.

"I promise."

"Good." Bia replied contentedly.

She turned around to start making her bed for tonight when out of the blue, she felt an affectionate grip. For the first two seconds she was glad to have a little brother. It had its moments. Then she realized what an annoying bird he had been today.

"Okay, yea. I love you too. Can you release me now?" She said with a slight nuisance.

"Sorry."

After having made herself a comfy place to sleep, she lay down and took a book from her cupboard using the last bit of daylight to study the evolution cycle of the Heliconius Larve. She hardly noticed Blu arriving at her bedside.

"Don't read too long Bia. You need your sleep."

"I won't dad."

She put down the book and he kissed her on the head. Not that she could read any longer, the light wouldn't allow her to, but her father wouldn't be her father if he hadn't said it, just in case. She didn't mind. Assurance was a good thing. 'Better safe than sorry'. She smiled and read on. Tomorrow there would be another great day of school and this time, she wouldn't lie for anyone.


End file.
